NEWS BRIEFS - Nov. 1996

COHO LISTING DELAYED

Under pressure from the timber industry and Governor Pete Wilson's
Administration, the federal government put off listing North Coast
coho salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

On Oct. 25, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed coho
as a threatened species from the Mattole River south to Santa
Cruz, but it deferred until next April 25 a decision on coho populations
between the Mattole and the Columbia rivers. The reason: "substantial
disagreement" over how much the fish have rebounded under
current state laws and voluntary habitat restoration.

The decision was greeted as good news by the timber industry.
"The current forest practice rules more than adequately protect
any problems that may be out there (for coho)," said Bill
Windes, spokesman for Louisiana Pacific Corp. He said the delay
would give NMFS time to review data submitted by LP and other
companies that shows rebounding coho populations. "Then they
can make a decision based on science instead of emotions."

State Resources Secretary Douglas Wheeler sought a listing
delay in a Sept. 27 letter to NMFS which said "substantial
disagreement between scientists exists as to the sufficiency and
accuracy" of NMFS' coho data.

That letter incensed fishing groups and conservationists who
noted that key paragraphs were taken verbatim from a draft prepared
by the California Forestry Association, a timber industry group.

"The claim that there is a dispute among scientists is
a pure fabrication," said Tom Weseloh of California Trout.
"The only dispute is between those who want to protect the
fish and those companies seeking to maximize their profits."

In the wake of what they characterize as Wheeler's "treachery,"
Weseloh and others withdrew from the Coastal Salmon Initiative
he established to develop voluntary approaches to salmon habitat
restoration. They say the listing offers the coho's only chance.

"Nothing of real consequence in terms of recovering the
fish has occurred on a voluntary basis, and the only thing that's
going to make the difference is sanctions applied against someone
who harms coho habitat, and the only way to accomplish that is
through the Endangered Species Act," said John Gaffin, a
fisheries consultant to Environmental Protection Information Center.
"Landowners have such a voice in state government that state
law is essentially meaningless."

Commercial fishermen were particularly angry about Wheeler's
letter and the listing delay since they have been banned from
taking coho for three years.

"We have been regulated as though (coho) were endangered,"
said Dave Bitts of the Humboldt Fisherman's Marketing Association.
"We have taken an unfair share of the burden while others
who have done more harm are not taking their share."

Timber industry spokesmen say they have changed their practices
to lessen impacts on coho streams. "Our ultimate hope is
that by doing so we would be able to see these populations recover
without a listing," said Dave Bischel, president of the CFA.

HEADWATERS UPDATE

An agreement between Maxxam, Inc., owners of Pacific Lumber
Co., and the state and federal governments has postponed salvage
logging in the Headwaters grove of ancient redwoods. If the terms
of the Sept. 28 agreement can be met within 10 months, Headwaters
and some 2,000 acres of adjacent land will become public property.

In exchange, Maxxam will receive cash, real estate, timber
and 7,775 acres of nearby timberlands, which the government will
buy for PALCO from Elk River Timber. The exchange will cost federal
taxpayers about $380 million, far more than any other U.S. government
land swap for ecological preservation. The recent mineral rights
exchange to protect Yellowstone National Park from toxic mining
wastes, for example, will cost a mere $65 million.

Some environmentalists immediately condemned the deal, which
was brokered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Cong. Frank
Riggs, R-Calif., because it covered only a fraction of the 60,000
acres of PALCO land they want preserved. PALCO's salvage logging
in other old-growth groves created a lightning rod for protests,
and civil disobedience arrests mounted through October.

Several protesters and groups have accused Humboldt County
sheriff's deputies of brutality in making arrests. Sheriff Dennis
Lewis told the Journal that most charges were not specific enough
to investigate, but that his staff is investigating three formal
complaints and will take action against any deputy found to be
guilty of abuse.

One of the accusers is Marc Schaefer, a Humboldt State University
student, who friends say was beaten with a tire iron by a deputy
trying to dislodge him from his tree-sitting perch. "I saw
(the deputy) pull back and hit him hard on the legs seven or eight
times," said Matthew Nelson of Santa Cruz who was supporting
Schaefer and other tree-sitters.

Earth First! brought the conflict out of the woods and onto
Highway 101 on Oct. 22 when 70 bicycling protesters occupied both
lanes southbound from Arcata. The action was taken during a rainstorm,
creating danger for bicyclists and motorists.

"If you can imagine folks traveling down the highway at
60 to 65 mph in a rainstorm and then having somebody drive out
into traffic lanes at bicycle speed.... There could have been
an injury or death related to this," said Officer John Lutzow
of the California Highway Patrol.

On the legal front, environmental groups lost on a technicality
in their petition asking the state Board of Forestry to prohibit
salvage logging in pristine redwood groves of 20 acres or larger.
Despite a 4-2 vote in favor, the measure died because the board's
rules require a majority vote of the nine-member board to adopt
new rules.

Meanwhile, since early October, U.S. and California fish and
wildlife officials have been working with PALCO managers to develop
two plans called for in the Sept. 28 agreement: a Habitat Conservation
Plan to protect the marbled murrelet and other species and a Sustained
Yield Plan to guide PALCO's timber harvest on all of its 200,000
acres.

Environmental groups promise to scrutinize these documents
closely to assess how how well they protect fish and wildlife.
The plans will be subject to the customary public review, but
Headwaters partisans are worried about a clause in the Sept. 28
agreement in which the state and federal governments agree to
cooperate with PALCO in fighting legal challenges to any part
of the agreement.

FIGHTING THE FLU

Influenza viruses will soon spread through the air as winter
descends on the North Coast. For most people, a bout of the flu
will mean two weeks of feeling lousy. But for seniors and people
with diabetes, heart disease, AIDS or other chronic diseases,
the flu can lead to serious illness and even death.

Humboldt County Public Health officials recommend that senior
citizens and people with chronic diseases receive flu vaccinations.
The vaccinations are available for $2 at eight clinics scheduled
in November (See the Calendar, Health/Fitness). People under 60
must bring a written prescription from a health care provider
recommending the immunization.

People who don't qualify for the subsidized vaccinations can
pay $10 for a flu shot at Long's Drugs, Bayshore Mall, on Nov.
2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or Nov. 9, same hours, at Long's Myrtle
Ave., Eureka, store. Flu shots are also available by appointment
at clinics and other health care providers.

AIR A LITTLE SWEETER

Many people living in the southern sections of Arcata noticed
a certain sweetness in the October air. It was actually the absence
of acrid smells that used to come from North Coast Quality Compost
on South I Street, near the Arcata marsh.

With encouragement from county environmental health officials,
NCQC owner Brad Rother has leased a new location on Samoa Boulevard.
It's farther from residential areas and lets the operation solve
drainage and other problems that were inherent in its former site.

"We really do need small-scale, decent operations like
Brad's," said Kevin Metcalfe of the health department. "People
who want to compost their waste need convenient ways to do it."

Two other compost operations have begun in the county recently.
JAKE Worm Farms south of Fortuna uses earthworms to turn food
waste from Seafood Grotto, Canton Cafe and other restaurants into
wormcast fertilizer. And College of the Redwoods has begun a pilot
sludge-composting program using the residue from its sewage treatment
plant to create soil amendments for the campus landscaping.

In Southern Humboldt, a group called the Mulcher Vultures plans
to buy a chipper and set up a wood waste composting operation
at the Redway recycling center. For more information, call 923-4806.

WHALE OF A LESSON

If you didn't have the stomach for frog dissection in high
school biology, then you wouldn't have appreciated Dawn Goley's
Oct. 2 marine mammal biology class.

Goley, an assistant professor at Humboldt State University,
took her graduate students up to Fern Canyon Beach to measure,
photograph and cut apart a 25-foot humpback whale carcass that
had washed ashore.

"It was a great educational experience but it took a lot
of work and a lot of whale goo getting all over everyone,"
said Goley, who had no doubt the learning was worth the work and
the mess.

"Even at sea you don't get to see the throat pleats (which)
expand so they can engulf water and prey ... and you don't get
to look at the orientation of bones, skeleton and muscle tissue
very often."

Goley estimated the whale's age at 4 years or younger, and
she and her students weren't able to determine the cause of death.
Using whale-sized tools they retrieved the mammal's skull, which
will be placed in an HSU natural history exhibit.

FUNDS EARMARKED FOR BAY

A $16.8 million project to deepen and enhance Humboldt Bay
for shipping, fishing and pleasure vessels got a $2.5 million
down payment in October as President Clinton signed the Water
Resource Development Act.

The project will deepen and widen the bar and entrance channels,
as well as North Bay and Samoa channels. Harbor district chief
Dave Hull says the agency is virtually assured of receiving additional
funds in future years, but that about $7 million will have to
be raised locally.

The agency is preparing a benefit assessment district proposal,
which would assess owners whose property values would be enhanced
by the project. Depending on the outcome of Proposition 218 in
November, the assessment proposal may have to be submitted to
a vote of property owners.

Ultimately, the harbor district hopes to develop a public marine
shipping terminal, but site selection and cost estimates for that
project are still a long way off.

TEEN SCENE UPDATE

Community activists in McKinleyville, Southern Humboldt and
Arcata are working to develop teen centers like the successful
Eureka Teen Center.

The Mateel Center in Redway began opening three afternoons
a week with games, sports and art classes for all teens. Transportation
from South Fork High School in Miranda is being offered. For more
information, call 923-3368.

In McKinleyville, North Coast Youth Activities is continuing
its Common Ground project with a $6,000 grant from Humboldt Area
Foundation. NCYA conducted eight focus groups with 52 teens in
the spring, and this fall it will conduct groups in Orick, Fieldbrook
and Trinidad, as well as groups for adults in McKinleyville.

"We ask open questions like 'What are the biggest problems
for teens today?' 'What do teens do for fun?' and 'What would
you like to see in a teen center?'" said Annie Cash of NCYA.

"After the adults have their say and the kids have their
say, we're going to bring the adults and teens together in a moderated
way to discuss how we could make this happen." For more information,
call 839-3658.

Arcata's Community Forum has a subcommittee that's seeking
ideas and funds for a teen center in that town. "We've talked
about the city building it in conjunction with the senior housing
going up near HealthSPORT and we've talked about it being part
of the Arcata Pool," said Carol Heaslip, director of Tiffany's
Garden.

Arcatans can help out by dropping money in the "Change
for Kids" jars set out in area stores by the Arcata Foundation.
For more information, call 822-8850.

CITY GARBAGE CUTS RECYCLING

City Garbage got out of the recycling business at the beginning
of October, leaving Eureka residents and city officials scrambling
to come up with alternatives.

Four drop-off facilities are available for aluminum, glass,
plastic and bundled newspapers: Cooper Gulch Park, Eureka Municipal
Auditorium, Carson Memorial Building at Harris and J Streets,
and Russell Street near Sequoia Zoo. General Recycling at 132
W. 4th St. will buy CRV glass, plastic and aluminum.

City Garbage said it made the decision because of low prices
for recyclables and because the company's 30-year contract with
the city is up for bid. "We have carried the overhead on
the recycling service for many years, yet it is not tied to any
contract or franchise agreement," said General Manager Mike
Leggins in a press release.

The slump in prices for recyclable material is squeezing other
operations. "It is incredibly difficult right now,"
said Kate Krebs, director of the Arcata Community Recycling Center.
"In fact we are looking at some of the lower grade materials
that we're handling and evaluating whether we should handle them
or not. I personally have a lot of empathy for City Garbage."

FLIGHT SAFETY QUESTIONED

Pilots using North Coast airports won't hear the reassuring
voices of a local flight service station crew after next September.
To save money, the Federal Aviation Administration will replace
the McKinleyville station with automated systems linked to the
FAA's regional computer system.

The FAA has told personnel that there will be a part-time contract
weather observer stationed in McKinleyville. That person will
input weather data into the FAA's computer network, and pilots
will get the same quality of weather data, according to the FAA.

But at least one pilot feels that the lack of a flight service
station will make landings more difficult -- not necessarily due
to poor weather data but because of what the ground crew can tell
pilots about airplane traffic.

"It isn't their main responsibility, but ... they do give
you a heads up as to who else is in the area," said pilot
Ron Dean. He noted that this help is critical at an airport without
an air traffic control station, like McKinleyville and all other
county airports.

Without the crew, pilots will "be talking to each other,
as we do now, but we'll have to be a lot more careful because
we won't have that observer."

FERNDALE FAVORITE DIES

Viola Russ McBride died Oct. 13 at the age of 90. The granddaughter
of 19th-century Humboldt County pioneers, McBride helped preserve
Ferndale's trademark Victorian architecture and supported the
arts through her Candystick Gallery. She was the subject of a
January 1994 North Coast Journal cover story.

DIXON CHARGES DISMISSED

First District Supervisor Stan Dixon was cleared of petty theft
charges Oct. 15 by visiting Trinity County Judge Anthony Edwards.
Dixon admitted walking out of Long's Drug Store at the Bayshore
Mall with a $15 item in his pocket, but said it was a mistake.
"I never had any intent to take anything from Long's,"
said Dixon, quoted in the Humboldt Beacon.